Papá Bocó from Yasser Tejeda & Palotré

by chipboaz on November 23, 2016

Latin Jazz draws upon cultural influences from across the Caribbean and South America, but there are regions that are certainly underrepresented. Despite the popularity of dance music from the Dominican Republic like Merengue, the Dominican Republic has not been at the forefront of Latin Jazz. We’ve seen patches of Dominican music pop up in Latin Jazz, but in the bigger picture, there’s tons of musical territory ripe for exploration.

Fortunately, we’ve got musicians like guitarist Yasser Tejeda digging deep into the connections between jazz and music from the Dominican Republic. Between a childhood immersed traditional music in Santo Domingo, training at Berklee College Of Music, and years of professional experience, he’s got the right tools to forge a path into Dominican Jazz. In this video, Tejeda performs “Papá Bocó” with his group Palotré, which includes Jonathan “Jblak” Troncoso on tambora, Victor Otoniel Vargas on drums, and Kyle Miles on bass. It’s a great show of musicianship from Tejeda and a look at the possibilities inherent in Dominican Jazz.